Last defendant pleads guilty to killing sex offender in Lubbock

Zeven Devon Sanders, the last of three defendants in the December 2010 murder of a sex offender from Oregon, was sentenced to 15 years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty to one count of robbery.

Sanders entered his plea before District Judge Brad Underwood.

He had originally been charged with capital murder because the killing took place during the commission of another felony. He would not have faced the death penalty, however because he was 16 years old when the crime was committed.

Sanders, now 19, initially intended to lure Brian Brinson to a location so he and a friend, Devante Lamar Jones, could beat him, apparently because Brinson had touched him inappropriately when he gave Sanders a ride in his car near Monterey High School.

As the plan developed, they decided to also rob Brinson because Sanders wanted money to visit his mother in Fort Worth.

Sanders wrote in his confession: “The plan was to beat up Bryan because the way he had touched me before. Devante and I decided since we were going to beat him we might as well take his money. I figured Bryan would have money on him and I needed sixty dollars to try and get back to Fort Worth so I could see my mom. I assumed because Bryan was a white guy he would have money. Devante and I did not want to kill anyone.”

Sanders told police he was walking home from Monterey High School about a month before the murder when Brinson asked him for directions to a barbeque restaurant. Sanders said he got into Brinson’s car. While they talked, he said, Brinson grabbed Sanders’ thigh and touched him on the chest.

In the written confession following his arrest, Sanders told police that Brinson frequently sent him text messages asking for a meeting.

The two planned to only beat and rob Brinson. But on the day they planned to ambush Brinson, a man initially identified to police by the nickname “Black” showed up and insisted on going along.

“Black,” who was later identified as Arenn Lamar Davis, brought a gun and shot Brinson in the torso, according to Sanders’ confession.

Police found Brinson slumped over the steering wheel of his Mercedes-Benz, which was parked in front of the duplex where Sanders lived.

Brinson, 52, had been convicted in Oregon of sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy and of manslaughter in connection with the beating death of an 8-year-old girl. He served prison sentences for both crimes.

The outcomes

All three men in this case faced capital murder charges, and all pleaded guilty to lesser offenses.

Arenn Davis, now 23 years old, pleaded guilty to murder April 26, 2012. District Judge Brad Underwood sentenced him to 25 years in prison.

Devante Jones, now 20 years old, pleaded guilty Dec. 6, 2012 to one count of robbery. Underwood sentenced him to 15 years in prison.